Brick Settles Lawsuit Over Affordable Housing Requirements With Bump in New Units

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Brick Township, having been sued by two developers and an affordable housing advocacy group, has settled on a plan that provides a comparatively small number of new designated-affordable homes over the next decade, but remains dramatically lower than the state’s original determination.

The state, under its fourth round of affordable housing quotas imposed on municipalities across New Jersey, initially demanded Brick create 360 new housing units for low and moderate income residents, which was slightly pared down to 322 units through a challenge. Shortly after the challenge resulted in the reduction, Brick officials took matters into their own hands, with the township planner, engineers and attorneys drafting a plan that would provide 29 units over the next decade, reflecting what officials viewed as a realistic capacity given Brick’s potential growth and capacity to add more residents.

The township’s plan drew lawsuits from three parties: the Fair Share Housing Center, an advocacy group that brings litigation against municipalities and is largely responsible for the implementation of the controversial Mt. Laurel Doctrine, a property owner in the township’s industrial park that was seeking to build residential units on its land, and the developer of a proposed 60-unit housing complex off Drum Point Road that had already been turned down by the planning board. The Drum Point developer ultimately had its claim dismissed, while the other two plaintiffs continued their cases, leading Ocean County’s affordable housing judge to appoint a special master to lead settlement talks.

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The township council voted Dec. 29, 2025 to execute the settlement as recommended by the special master. The settlement calls for Brick to create a plan for 106 affordable units, as well as the creation an overlay zone that “realistically results in the development of 54 units that are affordable,” Mayor Lisa Crate said in statement.

Brick officials were notified by the state that if a settlement agreement was not only negotiated – but approved and executed by the council – by Dec. 31, the township would lose its immunity from future lawsuits and “every single developable parcel in Brick is subject to developer’s rights to build without needing our approval,” the mayor said.

The creation of affordable housing units is nuanced in that they can be created through the rehabilitation of existing properties and other means,, while the physical construction of new units – the most controversial aspect of affordable housing plans across the state – can be limited.

“While we would prefer to be allowed to provide for affordable units on our own as we have successfully done for decades, the mandate to be complaint is clear,” said Crate. “The penalties for not being compliant would be devastating in terms of growth in our town.”

Crate said in her statement to Shorebeat that misconceptions on affordable housing should be clear: the units are not “section 8” rentals that are provided through housing vouchers, but residences that come with a reduced price for those who qualify.

“More and more families are sharing homes, with fewer and fewer younger people being able to buy a place of their own to start a family,” she said. “Living with parents and grandparents is the new norm, between student loan debt, cost of living, and impossible-to-reach housing prices, families cannot afford home ownership.”

In Brick, designated-affordable units in the “low income” category can be offered to a family of four whose income does not exceed $67,300. For “moderate” income units, a family of four who earns $107,608 would qualify.

“That’s a large percentage of the population today,” Crate said. “And the federal government’s solution to allow for 50-year mortgages, may make monthly payments more affordable, but what kind of retirement will 40-year-olds have with the noose of a 50-year mortgage? It’s not a solution. The solution is also not to build large complexes or apartment buildings for affordable units. The solution is to create communities with some of the units set aside as affordable.”

Crate said that, ultimately, the model of affordable housing provisions carries on that which Brick has followed for decades – carving out a small number of affordable units within developments that would already be constructed, rather than developing large, high-density multifamily housing complexes where all of the units are crowded into one area. Brick’s method has resulted in few to no complaints from residents, she said, and avoids more units owned by corporations rather than individuals.

“This model is the opposite of LLCs purchasing investment properties that they turn into rentals with little or no oversight,” she said. “These homes, condos, townhouses, and apartments are already part of almost every neighborhood in Brick and will continue to be in this plan. In our plan, young families have hope for a home of their own.”